Interesting.  Do you feel overwhelmed and depressed by the trends and interests of modern day society?  I sometimes feel this way.  My gut tells me not to isolate myself.  There is, amidst all the clashing currents, good to be found and good to be had. 

It is a fun activity for me to observe my surroundings while making a conscious effort to detach.  And in that space, to try to define myself and my values, and imagine the kind of oasis I would create for myself in an ideal world.  I can do this wherever I am, whether in transit, or in my home.  Because everywhere we are it is possible to see the effects of our interest and participation in the commercial world around us.  But just as place doesn't define us, what is going on around us need not define us either.  At every moment, we can make small choices that define and distinguish us from the surrounding chaos.

There is a place where Nietzsche is discussing traveling, and he writes something like the following: The first reason traveling abroad is interesting is that one can see many ruins and old buildings, which are still standing, more or less as they were a hundred, or five hundred, or a thousand years ago. But on further inspection, if one looks carefully, it is not simply buildings, one can find people, families, sometimes entire villages, which are still living in a different time, unchanged since (for instance) the seventeenth century. So that by walking through the world one can manage to travel widely through time.

You will recognize this as sounding nothing like Nietzsche, of course. The thought made such an impression on me at the time that it is very difficult by now for me to remember what he said and what it inspired in me, and I do not have any of his books here with me.

However, it is an interesting question he raises, which we might consider, Dana. Perhaps other centuries still exist in certain places, just not the places in which we would like to live. Just as the wilderness does. One cannot live wholeheartedly as in the nineteenth century in the middle of Tokyo -- can one? Eva suggests gestures, which is certainly powerful. To continue the analogy of the wilderness, in another post Hugh suggests that one should be able to be a barbarian (in a precise sense he describes) in the middle of the modern city, which sounds fascinating, though I do not exactly know how one might do this.

Great question Dana,
I'll respond to Eva and Catherine but first,
Dana, I would essentially re-say what I said in the allure of wilderness discussion, post, only replacing Wilderness for whatever kind of life you want: (OOPS, I just noticed you already linked to my post Catherine - Thanks!)

"Dear Ellen, I can feel your desire for the wilderness, and I think many of us find Walden’s supposed escape to live in the mountains at least partially alluring. But it is also too literal an understanding of wilderness. Wilderness is also a state of mind. The differences between dreaming of it and living in it are small, as long as you can create it inside your real world. The sense of freedom, openness, space, isolation, and motion which are so connected with wilderness can be felt inside the city, inside a huge crowd, and even sitting in a bustling cafes.

This separation between life in the city and the wilderness is a also a dangerous one as you tend to accept the rules of the city while in it, and though some rules (like don’t walk naked or piss on the street) should probably be observed, your mind should have a freedom to it, and open up a vastness for you. You should be able to be a barbarian even inside the city, at least from a mental point of view.

Living a period in California with its beautiful openness, and time in Paris where you can rarely see two meters ahead without some wall blocking your view, they are very different experiences. It’s important to remind the mind that there are those vast wild areas, and a place from where you can see miles and miles and miles ahead; to see valleys, mountains and the sea. It’s important to remind oneself of that, but then to implement it also when living in the city and among people."

Eva, it's true that there is always "good to be found and good to be had" but being inside the current you can't control what you get. That is, you will get some of their diseases too - they are contagious. But I a agree, what else is there to do.

Beautiful "quote" Catherine. I'm not sure such places exist anymore. Unless...hence why you linked to my post. It's funny following the same chain of thought.